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Manchu Plain Red Banner

English editorial translation of the Chinese source entry

The Manchu Plain Red Banner (Zhenghongqi Manzhou) was one component of the Qing Eight Banners' Manchu division. It did not denote all troops who happened to carry red standards, nor a community separate from the banner system. The Eight Banners organized registered populations an…

Written by MING YEEight Banners & InstitutionsManchuCulture Wiki
Source-based English editorial manuscript · Historical details subject to final source verification.

Banner identity

The Manchu Plain Red Banner (Zhenghongqi Manzhou) was one component of the Qing Eight Banners' Manchu division. It did not denote all troops who happened to carry red standards, nor a community separate from the banner system. The Eight Banners organized registered populations and military personnel through banner and company hierarchies, including commanders, regiments, and companies. A corresponding Plain Red Banner also existed among Mongol and Han-martial-banner divisions, so the qualifier 'Manchu' is essential when discussing registers or biographies.

Administrative position

The Imperially Commissioned Comprehensive Gazetteer of the Eight Banners (Qinding Baqi tongzhi), juan 30, places the Plain Red Banner within the Right Wing and describes its capital quarters after the Qing conquest in the vicinity of Xizhimen, inside Beijing's city walls. Under the organization consolidated during the Shunzhi reign, the Bordered Yellow, Plain Yellow, and Plain White Banners constituted the Upper Three Banners. The Plain Red Banner was therefore one of the Lower Five.

Reading individual biographies

Registered populations within the banner included military personnel, families, and people not on active military duty. Banner affiliation alone establishes neither military rank nor wealth, noble status, or the origin of a lineage. Specific appointments and family relationships must be established independently.

Sources and Bibliography

  1. Historical source 1 — www.qinghistory.cn
  2. Historical source 2 — www.shidianguji.com
  3. Historical source 3 — www.qinghistory.cn
  4. Historical source 4 — zh.wikisource.org

Links reproduce references supplied with the Chinese editorial manuscript; they do not establish that every individual statement has undergone independent archival verification.